My son was a dreamy child. He came by it naturally. I was a dreamy child too. Dreamy children follow a bug for ten minutes instead of getting dressed for school. They get soaked in the rain while counting raindrops. Dreamy children are often told, “Hurry up!” or “Pay attention!” The truth is they are paying attention, maybe not to things most of us feel are important, but to things that are important to them.

My son’s dreaminess, his tendency to take his time, inspired me to write Quick, Quack, Quick.

Quack takes the time to appreciate the world around him, but is a bit unappreciated himself, until the end of the story. That’s when Quack saves his family because of what he’s learned just by taking his time.

I started writing Quack’s story in 1988, and began submitting it to publishing houses soon after. But it wasn’t until 1994 that I received an offer for the story from Random House. My editor, Mallory Loehr, helped me transform the four-page lyrical text into a story that fit into Random House’s Step into Reading line. I will always be grateful for her patience as a teacher and guide. Quick, Quack, Quick is my best selling book, with over half a million copies sold.